Letter: Unfair on Current Use

The Ledger Transcript republished an article from the Concord Monitor (“Land conservation becomes unfunded mandate, July 5) suggesting that land taxed under New Hampshire’s Current Use law has become an unfunded mandate.

Your reprint fails to mention that upon disqualification from Current Use, which typically occurs when the land is subdivided into less than 10-acre lots or some part of the property is developed and no longer qualifies, a Land Use Change tax is due. The tax is 10% of the land’s fair market value. This typically raises enough additional tax revenue for the municipality to cover what the parcel would have paid.

The article quotes the Grafton County registrar of deeds, an elected official, referring to “any joker with over 10 acres.” New Hampshire has thousands of landowners with property enrolled in Current Use; I am one of such landowners. I pay nearly $7,000 per year for my properties, which aggregate to about 100 acres and include my modest home and are the assets I’ve acquired after 50 years of hard work. And, the timber I harvest from time to time is subject to a further 10% tax on its value.

Please don’t refer to me and the many Current Use owners across the state as “any joker.” It is condescending, insulting and irresponsible for an elected official to do so. This registrar, I am certain, has recorded official Land Use Change Tax forms and should be aware of the penalty paid by the landowner when their land no longer qualifies for taxation as undeveloped, open space. Current Use has been sound public policy for over 50 years. The registrar’s suggestion that “I’m not paying taxes” is cavalier, uninformed and not based in reality. My canceled checks prove it every year!

Dennis D. McKenney

Bennington